fr. Christopher Dillon OSB
This third Sunday in Ordinary Time sees us still at the beginning moves of the story of Jesus’ ministry, a good time to be shaking off the shackles of the public health restrictions which have enchained us all for so long. The First Sunday always presents Jesus being baptised and being acknowledged by the Father, “This is my beloved Son, listen to him.”
The Second Sunday always has Jesus introduced to his chosen disciples; and, indeed, last Sunday, with the miracle at the wedding in Cana, we were told, “He let his glory be seen and his disciples believed in him.” In this third week, Jesus introduces himself to the wider world of the Chosen People, in terms of the messianic portrait as articulated by the prophet Isaiah, “The spirit of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight, to set the downtrodden free, to proclaim the Lord’s year of favour.” We, if not exactly the Chosen People, are certainly his adopted family, by virtue of our Baptism, adopted daughters and sons of the eternal Father; but we are also the poor, captives and blind; and Jesus is introducing himself to us, proclaiming good news, proclaiming liberty and bestowing new sight to our blindness.
This has been true for generation after generation, now, for twenty-one hundred years; and where are we? Are we seeing any better? Are we any more free of our obsessions, our cares? In our poverty, what have we made of the Good News? Do we even know what is meant by the Good News; that God has become human, so that we humans may become God?
In the wake of the hideous murders of recent times among us, we must ask what has happened to our society? Dare we question, in the midst of our newly acquired secular freedoms whether the triumph of secularism may have something to do with it? The Christian Catholic Church, in its heyday, may possibly have contributed to keeping the lid on our excesses; but it certainly has not eradicated them. As we shall see in next week’s Gospel reading, the people of Jesus’ own day were much the same as we continue to be; while they were hugely impressed by his miracles, they largely yawned at his urging that they change their behaviour, that they “repent”, as he put it, and look at the world with different eyes.
So what are we to do, as we set out, as Christians, on this new year of 2022? Can we hope to effect some change for the better in ourselves? Can we hope to make some impression on the society around us? And, if so, what form should our efforts take? You may have many and better ideas than I can put together; but I would dare to make this observation. It is for me to decide what I am going to do, now and in the immediate future; it is decidedly not the time to wait for, much less, to blame the Government, the Church, or anybody else, for not waving a magic wand and making things better. After the years, months and weeks of this health emergency, it is time to appreciate those who have laboured long and hard to get us through it, often at great risk to themselves. It is time for each of us to do ordinary things that we do particularly well; to give of ourselves, so that everyone may benefit from that extra conscious energy; for the Spirit of the Lord has been given to us too.
Remember, the followers of Christ have been called to be the salt of the earth. Individually and collectively, we can begin to restore something of that Christian taste which our society used to have. No one else can do it for us. Here is a simple prayer with which to begin your day, “Lord, give me the grace to see what I have to do today and the strength to do it.” It is really up to us, if this is going to happen.